She may have eliminated herself from RuPaul’s Drag Race, but BenDeLaCreme is never out of the spotlight. Make room for the bride, because this queen is Ready To Be Committed!
When BenDeLaCreme first appeared on RuPaul’s Drag Race, Season Six, she quickly gained popularity amidst her competitors and became a fan favourite. Called DeLa for short, she came fifth in her season and was voted Miss Congeniality. But like many drag queens, her skill set was established years earlier on the cabaret scene, including work with the famed Atomic Bombshells burlesque troop.
“I started working with burlesque dancers when I was living in Chicago back in the early 2000’s,” says DeLa.
“For many years I worked predominantly within the cabaret communities and felt a real kindred spirit with the art of burlesque. It has so much in common with drag, in terms of the heightening of gender and femininity. When I moved to Seattle, there was a burgeoning scene and I found that burlesque and drag may be different regionally, but within the burlesque community there’s a lot of camp and narrative storytelling – which I wasn’t seeing in drag. It’s not inherent of burlesque but it included a lot of political content. People were coming at it with quite a feminist approach and it’s great to play with all the fun of feminine trappings, while still being aware of the messages. That’s all stuff I carry with me as a performer.”
And carry it onto Drag Race she did. To this day, DeLa is the only contestant to win five challenges in one season and four episodes consecutively. She also won the Snatch Game twice!
“My post Drag Race experience makes up a lot of my life now”, she says.
“But I’m really still doing the same stuff I did before. I was performing, writing, directing, and producing, but of course you go on Drag Race and the scale you’re able to work on changes infinitely. I got into drag before it became a path to fame and fortune. I did it because I loved it and now, I get to make a full career out of it. I get to bring these shows to so many places and audiences I never dreamed of. It allows me to focus on making the best work possible and that’s the hardest dream.”
“Many of the things I was reviled for as a kid are the very things I’m celebrated for now.”
While Drag Race contestants constantly strive for Charisma, Uniqueness, Nerve and Talent, DeLa definitely ticked the N box by famously eliminating herself from the competition. Despite leaving the show, it proved a positive move, gaining respect from her fans, competitors and DeLa herself.
“I had my two stints on Drag Race, and I think I’ve always been a pretty driven hard worker,” she says.
“It’s such a marathon when you’re actually filming. It’s so breakneck and you need to juggle so much. So, I was glad I’d done all I had beforehand. It was very edifying. When you do well on Drag Race you think, “Okay, great! I was doing the right things! I’m on the right path and I should trust myself”. I left All Stars in a very dramatic way and I have to say it was a really cool moment, from having been conflicted on the show and thinking “Do I trust my instincts and my gut about what I want to do?” Making my own choice about that was such a significant thing to do on such a public platform. I’m so glad it happened the way it did because I’m much bolder in terms of what I’m willing to try as an artist and person. The response people gave me surrounding that has been incredible. It could have gone in any number of ways, but it was a great lesson and helped me become a stronger artist and businessperson.”
In the past DeLa, whose real name is Benjamin Putnam, has spoken of the bullying he received as a child, targeted at his weight, weirdness and simply for being gay. As a teenager, he also lost his mother to cancer and struggled with depression. While drag has no doubt played its part in finding solace, DeLa has good advice on surviving in a world often unkind to the LGBTIQ+ community.
“First and foremost is safety,” she says.
“It’s easy to say “Stick with it! You’ll be okay”. But the reality is, if we’re in them, we have to get out of bad situations. Queer people have a long and proud history of leaving bad situations and making their lives better, and I would always encourage people not to feel obligated or trapped in a situation that’s not good for them. We as queer people get to go out and create our own lives. Many of the things I was reviled for as a kid, that I was told were wrong and should be ashamed off, are the very things I’m celebrated for now. It’s important for people to know that other people’s judgements around how they act and look, or what they do, are just opinions. Those opinions you’re stuck next to now, are not the ones you’ll have to live with for the rest of your life! You have to work hard not to internalise those opinions, because somebody out there is going to love the very thing, you’re being told is bad about you.”
“I would always encourage people not to feel obligated or trapped in a situation that’s not good”.
It’s that very message and rhetoric that comes through DeLa’s solo shows. Terminally Delightful, Inferno A-Go-Go and Cosmos have all had great success. Her fans range from Anne Hathaway to Chelsea Clinton, who called her “Fun, thought provoking and fabulous.” Ready To Be Committed is the artist’s fourth solo show and the first in which she explores love and relationships.
“The premise of the show is that DeLa decides she’s going to get married and this is her wedding,” she says.
“She realizes she has to find a dress, cake and a groom, which hadn’t occurred to her beforehand! It’s her journey scrambling to the alter, but along the way she explores the elements of love, relationships and what the perfect bride is. It’s all told through high camp antics in the style of fairytales and Rom-Coms. She meets her plastic wedding cake topper, who’s a very demanding two-inch bitchy bridezilla! She also meets Cupid and the two of them do a high-spirited rap about the early philosophers’ understandings on the meaning of love. There’s also one of those bachelorette party penis cups that comes to life and teaches her about marriage in medieval times, when women were exchanged for land! I play twelve different characters through video and puppetry. It’s very silly and a lot of fun!”
“There’s a lot of great queens from Drag Race, but Jinkx Monsoon and I have a sisterhood that’s very special and rare.”
While Dela is close to many in the Drag Race alumni, it’s Season Five winner Jinkx Monsoon who she’s closest too. A pre-Drag Race friend, the two have spent time collaborating on shows such as The Jinkx & Dela Holiday Special.
“There’s a lot of great queens from Drag Race that I’ve formed friendships with, but Jinkx and I have a sisterhood that’s very special and rare. I’m very grateful we got to know each other beforehand, but we also went on this crazy Drag Race journey sort of parallel to each other. We were on the bottom of the pile together and the top together, and you don’t get to share all those experiences with just anybody.”
The world of Drag Race also introduced the entertainer to notable celebrity guests, including Adam Lambert, Neil Patrick Harris, Emma Bunton, Nancy Pelosi and Chaz Bono.
“I’ve met a lot of big celebrities which has been very cool,” says DeLa.
“But the people I get most nervous around are those who are really influential to me. I’m friends with the drag queen Varla Jean Merman who was an idol of mine growing up. We met around 2008 and I was so nervous I couldn’t even speak! Many people don’t know who she is, but to me she’s the biggest celebrity in the world. I would meet someone like Anne Hathaway and it’s like, “Hello, nice to meet you”, but with Varla, I simply just couldn’t talk. I also recently became friends with Sid Krofft from the Sid and Marty Krofft brothers (H.R. Pufnstuf/The Banana Splits). He’s now 93 and we became phone buddies during the pandemic. He’s probably not the person most people my age would be friends with, but I’m just mind blown that I get to know Sid Krofft!”
“Many people don’t know who Varla Jean Merman is, but to me she’s the biggest celebrity in the world.”
To that end, it was also something of a dream when DeLa got to work with retro television stars on Dragging the Classics: The Brady Bunch, where Drag Race stars, including RuPaul joined the original cast to recreate a famous episode.
“It was one of the more surreal things I’ve ever done,” she says.
“It was very cool to play opposite Greg Brady as Greg Brady! And to be the older brother to the original Bobby Brady, who at this point is several years my senior! They were all so great to work with. Unfortunately, I didn’t have any scenes with Eve Plumb, but she’s an absolute trip and one of the best persons I’ve ever met!”
Given DeLa’s interest in pop culture, one could say the Brady Bunch was a heaven-sent role, after all, she won Snatch Game with her impersonation of Paul Lynde (Bewitched) and again with Dame Maggie Smith! But did the Downton Abbey star give it the thumbs up?
“She has not returned any of my calls,” says DeLa.
“It’s outrageous! Maybe she’ll drop a reference to me somewhere in the Downton Abbey movie. Perhaps with an Easter egg!”
Ready To Be Committed is currently touring the U.S, before heading to the UK and Canada
For more visit: bendelacreme.com
Follow Dela on Instagram @bendelacreme
